When you are presented with a graph that has words on the axes, the graph is meant to describe a real world situation. To interpret the graph, look for key features, like the x and y intercepts, as well as the slope. The x and y intercepts happen when one of the quantities is zero, which is important. The slope tells you whether something is increasing or decreasing and how fast it is changing, and the units on the slope (y units on top of x units) can help tell a rate of change.